Genesis 17:23
וַיִּקַּח אַבְרָהָם אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵאל בְּנוֹ וְאֵת כָּל־יְלִידֵי בֵיתוֹ וְאֵת כָּל־מִקְנַת כַּסְפּוֹ כָּל־זָכָר בְּאַנְשֵׁי בֵּית אַבְרָהָם וַיָּמָל אֶת־בְּשַׂר עָרְלָתָם בְּעֶצֶם הַיּוֹם הַזֶּה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר אִתּוֹ אֱלֹהִֽים׃
✦ Hebrew interlinear
Tap a word to see its entry
✦ The same verse in five languages
וַיִּקַּ֨ח אַבְרָהָ֜ם אֶת־יִשְׁמָעֵ֣אל בְּנ֗וֹ וְאֵ֨ת כָּל־יְלִידֵ֤י בֵיתוֹ֙ וְאֵת֙ כָּל־מִקְנַ֣ת כַּסְפּ֔וֹ כָּל־זָכָ֕ר בְּאַנְשֵׁ֖י בֵּ֣ית אַבְרָהָ֑ם וַיָּ֜מָל אֶת־בְּשַׂ֣ר עָרְלָתָ֗ם בְּעֶ֙צֶם֙ הַיּ֣וֹם הַזֶּ֔ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר דִּבֶּ֥ר אִתּ֖וֹ אֱלֹהִֽים׃
Καὶ ν Ἀβραὰμ Ἱσμαὴλ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντας τοὺς οἰκογενεῖς αὐτοῦ καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἀργυρωνήτους καὶ Καὶ ἄρσεν τῶν ἀνδρῶν τῶν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ Ἀβραάμ, καὶ περιέτεμεν τὰς ἀκροβυστίας αὐτῶν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης, καθὰ ἐλάλησεν αὐτῷ ὁ θεός.
Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0
Latin (Vulgate)
Tulit autem Abraham Ismaël filium suum, et omnes vernaculos domus suæ, universosque quos emerat, cunctos mares ex omnibus viris domus suæ: et circumcidit carnem præputii eorum statim in ipsa die, sicut præceperat ei Deus.
Ese mismo día, Abraham tomó a su hijo Ismael, a todos los nacidos en su casa y a todos los comprados con su dinero; a todos los varones de su casa, y les circuncidó la carne del prepucio, tal como Dios se lo había ordenado.
Classic Spanish (Reina-Valera 1909)
Entonces tomó Abraham á Ismael su hijo, y á todos los siervos nacidos en su casa, y á todos los comprados por su dinero, á todo varón entre los domésticos de la casa de Abraham, y circuncidó la carne del prepucio de ellos en aquel mismo día, como Dios le había dicho.
On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or purchased with his money — every male among the members of Abraham ’s household — and he circumcised them, just as God had told him.
✦ What the text says
Summary
The verse narrates that Abraham took his son Ishmael, all those born in his household, and all those acquired by purchase, and circumcised every male in his household on that same day, in fulfillment of what God had told him.
Key words
- yiqqach ("he took", H3947G) — qal narrative verb, opening the sentence with a sequential "and then" action performed by Abraham.
- yelidei beit-o ("those born of his household", H3211 + H1004M) — a construct chain literally "the born-ones of his house," designating individuals native to the household as opposed to those acquired.
- miqnat kaspo ("the purchase of his silver", H4736 + H3701G) — construct phrase meaning those obtained by monetary transaction, distinguishing bought members of the household from those born into it.
- yamol ("he circumcised", H4135A) — qal narrative verb, the main completed action of the verse, paired with bet ("flesh", H1320) orlatam ("their foreskin", H6190H).
- be'etsem hayom hazeh ("in the substance/bone of this day", H6106H + H3117G + H2088) — an idiomatic construct using 'etsem ("bone/substance") to intensify "this very day," marking the immediacy of the action.
What the text says
The Hebrew sentence is built on two main narrative verbs joined by the vav-consecutive: yiqqach ("he took") and yamol ("he circumcised"), both qal forms marking sequential completed actions performed by Abraham. Between these two verbs, the text lists the objects of the first verb through a chain of construct phrases introduced by the direct object marker 'et: Ishmael his son, "all yelidei beit-o" (those born of his household), and "all miqnat kaspo" (the purchase of his silver), summarized by "kol zakhar" ("every male", H2145) among "anshei beit Avraham" ("the men of Abraham's household", H0582+H1004M). This construct-chain structure groups household members by origin—native-born versus purchased—before collapsing the distinction into the single category "every male."
The temporal phrase be'etsem hayom hazeh uses the noun 'etsem ("bone," here functioning as "substance" or "very essence") to intensify the demonstrative "this day," an idiom that grammatically emphasizes immediacy rather than merely stating a date. The final clause, introduced by ka'asher ("as", H0834D) with the piel perfect dibber ("he had spoken", H1696G), subordinates the entire circumcision action to a prior divine instruction, framing Abraham's act as compliance with something already stated by Elohim (H0430G).
Differences between versions
The Hebrew places be'etsem hayom hazeh ("on this very day") after the circumcision clause, near the end of the verse. The BSB and SBLIBRE translations relocate this phrase to the beginning of the sentence ("On that very day Abraham took..."), restructuring the Hebrew word order. The Vulgate renders the idiom as "statim in ipsa die" ("immediately, on that same day"), and the LXX as "ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς ἡμέρας ἐκείνης" ("at the time of that day")—neither preserves the literal "bone/substance" ('etsem) image present in the Hebrew idiom.
This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.